Hey, everyone! The weather’s fine and fall-ish and you know what that means – it’s time for a Random Sunday makeup post!
The fall makeup collections are out, and it’s been fun looking at all the palettes – lots of dramatic colors and burgundy and brown lippies out there, like the ones in the Lancome ad above, in keeping (it seems to me) with the retro runway looks. These aren’t necessarily the easiest makeup colors for me to wear, but I still enjoy playing with them in the stores. I did try on the wack Dior’s Mysterious Mauve, check out that color at left – yep, a deep, shimmery purple. Purple. Look at that thing, how could I resist? News flash: it was just awful on me, but it would be gorgeous on someone with dark skin.
Let’s talk about foundation. Carter was pimping the new(ish?) Maybelline Dream Smooth Mousse foundation, which has gotten a lot of love already on MakeupAlley, with a high 73% rebuy rating. It’s a drag you can’t try them on in the drugstores, but our local CVS lets you return opened makeup so I bought a couple so Diva and I could sample them. SPECIAL NOTE – this is not the Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse foundation, which has much lower MUA approval ratings of 47%, although I did buy some for Diva to try since she’s a teenager. She found the matte formula hard to work into a smooth finish, although the color was right. She kept the light neutral shade (Light 1) as a pancake makeup for her dance performances.
I bought what appeared to me to be the two lightest, most neutral tones in the Smooth Mousse – Porcelain Ivory and Classic Ivory. There are two other light colors that are much more obviously yellow and pink, for those of you who swing that way. The Classic is too dark for Diva and me, but the Porcelain was excellent. I wore it for a few days and Diva’s wearing it now. The formula’s packed in a wide pot with a built-in sponge in the lid storage area. The formula for these things is amaaaazing – they really are incredibly creamy and the coverage is buildable. They stayed just fine on me, they are dewy but not too shiny on my dry skin, and they didn’t break Diva out. In the end, I decided the color is just a hair off to be a perfect-perfect match – it’s one I’d wear if I really had to, but I’ve got better matches, and I hate being able to see my foundation. If you’re looking for a reasonably priced drugstore foundation and you can find a color match (they have 10 shades), this is well worth checking out, and thanks, Carter!
Bringing me to Make Up For Ever’s two obscure lightest colors in their Face & Body Makeup! Some of you may remember my ecstasy over this iconic product. It’s at Sephora, and I think the finish is gorgeous (and I’m not the only one, based on MUA ratings.) The main problem, as always, is finding a color match. For whatever reason, Sephora stores don’t usually stock the two lightest colors, 36 and 38, in the store – I didn’t know they existed. (And no, I have no idea what’s behind MUFE’s totally random numbering system.) I’ve been wearing 20, their palest in-stock neutral, but I’d admitted to myself earlier this spring that it wasn’t the perfect shade for me, it’s a hair too yellow and I have to powder it to tone that down a little. So I read all the comments on 38 and 36 from fair-skinned folks on MUA and based on that, I ordered 38. Then two days later I discovered that – ha, ha – those two shades are now stocked by our swank Sephora in the Wall o’ Bling. So I tried them both, one on each side of my face. The 36 is the paler and pinker of the two – it looks scary, like super-pale calamine lotion in the bottle. I could actually get away with it, but it was a little pasty on me. I envision it on those porcelain-doll beauties who are even lighter than I am, and they’re out there. But #38 was just right. It looks darker in the bottle and on the application sponge than it does on the skin, it’s closer to 36 than you’d think. It’s neutral, sheer (more sheer than the 20) and buildable. I like that I can just do the center of my face, where I’m the most red, and it still looks natural and blends away perfectly at the edges without full coverage down to my jawline, so it’s less “made up” looking. It doesn’t look like great foundation, it looks like no foundation. Unlike, say, the MAC girls with their supermatte, very hard-edge makeup, the less-is-more look is better for those of us who are no longer young women, in my opinion. Too much makeup is oddly aging.
PS: A change in the MUFE bottle – I put the stuff on with a sponge, so the bottle’s open-mouth design, which ooks people out, has never bothered me. (The weird jello-like consistency doesn’t bother me either.) But the new bottles, at least the one I got in the mail, have a pump-top on them like the Hi-Def.
Finally, a MAC lament and a score. I don’t know what’s wrong with me, I knew Strada was being discontinued, those bastards, I should have stocked up. The perfect non-blushy blush for us pale girls who want a little “color” that isn’t orange or dirt. The d/c’d Strada is now selling on eBay for … $35 a pop. Anyone find another match? I’ll probably go to a MAC pro and ask. In the meantime, Louise forced me to try on lipstick, and I have to say – Viva Glam in Gaga is the pale-pink bomb. It’s the first one of their Viva Glam lippies I’ve bought. Their description: “named after celebrity spokesperson Lady Gaga. Features a high lustre finish and cool blue-pink shade.” It is a pale bubblegum pink unlike any other pink I have. It’s paler than my actual lips (it’s also paler than the color at left as it appears on my monitor). It is NOT any of the following: sheer, YLBB, pinky-nude, bright, neon, fuchsia, or (conversely) too pale and mod, speaking of looks that don’t work so great on those of us who wore that the first time around. It’s wow without being POW. It’s pale pink as a color rather than a bold statement, and it works great with a modern, pared-down natural look, which is humorous when you think about who it’s named after.
So, it’s your turn. Anyone out there working a new look, trying some new polish or a great new eye quad? How do you feel about this fall’s burgundy and brown lips, like at Lancome? Any other makeup comments or questions to throw out to your fellow commenters, some of whom are much bigger makeup fiends than I am? (Not naming names.) Has anyone busted out their red lips yet? I wore them a few times this summer, actually. Counter-intuitive and fun, but not when my face is sweaty.
So there I was in Walgreens a few days ago and darned if they didn’t have a BOGO offer on the Maybelline Mousse stuff. Holy fabulous looking skin! That stuff performs better than most of the $25-40 foundations I have. It’s incredibly easy to blend and covers everything well and yet is so natural-looking that I can’t tell I’m wearing foundation.
So thanks, March!
My major makeup obsession is still nail polish. I am loving anything with a duochrome finish. Last winter I went on a ring buying spree on evilbay; I became positively addicted to drusy stones. I have several now in shades of purple, copper, black, pink & crystal and they’re all unique and irridescent. I love matching my rings to my nailpolish (insert eyerolling emoticon here.) I have several Orly Cosmix collection polishes in the mail and bought a gorgeous Borghese at CVS the other day. It’s called Stellar Notte and it’s a gunmetal color w/a subtle purple/green duochrome like an oilslick.
The Maybelline mousse foundation has been on my radar for a while now, must try it soon. Since I finally mastered a nude lip look that I’m happy with I’m not giving it up but I have a couple of violet/plum lippies I look forward to wearing in the fall. I just can’t do the dark burgundy or bright oranges I’ve been seeing in magazines. For eyemakeup, I’m liking dark green liner. And no makeup look for eyes may be a coming trend but I look dead without at least some liner and mascara. I’m too old er, classic, for trends anyway.
The duochromes are so much fun. Nail polish is one place where I’ll go nuts. Okay, no nail tips with sunsets and palm trees, but I wear some garish colors. I like your jewelry/polish combo.
I’m glad you found a nude lip you like, I thought I never would. Once I got used to the different tonal values I was crazy about it. And a bit of liner is always welcome.
As I posted to Carter in the older discussion, I got that Dreamy Smooothe Moooouse,in “Natural Beige,” and holy crap, once I blend I can’t even see it. I only know it’s there because whatever I’m trying to cover is not. That, my friends, is known as a color match. Like you, I like my foundation sheer enough to leave parts of my face bare or almost-bare, since I have lots of good natural color in my cheeks, so this is great for me. Hurrah! But I think I’d still like to find a replacement primer to wear underneath for the days when I’m really trying to put on the polish.
I’ve been dying to try on some of the Coco Rouge lippies, and I need to replace my MAC gel pot liner, hopefully with one (or two, getting a little bored with just dark brown) of those Bobbi Browns everyone talks so much about. But that entails a trip to North Austin, which may as well be in a different country from where I live. Eventually…
Isn’t it great when you’re not shellacking your whole face? And you can leave the good parts bare? Which is what keeps it from turning into a mask…
Those Coco lippies, some of the colors are stunning.
PLEASE! Lest I lose my mind. Was the “Must Own” post really blank on everyone’s monitor?
WHAT IS IT THAT I MUST OWN?!
Kudos here to Maybelline Full & Soft mascara. It’s been a staple for more years than I can remember, and now that I use generic Latisse, no other ‘scara seems necessary.
Edward Bess lipsticks are sounding nice, but I don’t want nudes or bloody reds, so I am at a loss as to what will work nicely with my pale blue eyes and very pale, ivory-ish skin.
I tried to reload it! I have no idea … have you cleared your cache? This is Lee’s post from Friday? He types his on a Mac, all I can think is there’s some weird glitch in there.
Edward Bess had one really good match for me, but the rest, not so much.
It’s still blank for me after all kinds of cache-clearing, etc. I’m probably better off never knowing what I must own, though, because inevitably it will be one of the approximately three things I DON’T already own and I will stupidly pine for it until I possess it – at which point, I will ignore my new full bottle and keep wearing my decants and samples. *sigh*
I couldn’t read it on my PC at work either, but it was fine on my Mac at home. Here it is (except the picture of him and his sister when they were kids – I wonder if that’s what messed the post up?):
By Lee
On Wednesday, the Lovely Lady March led us merrily into the world of simulacra – the perfumes you’d list as must-sniffs in terms of their representations of the real. And what great work you folks did in suggestions, recommendations and thoughts.
I had this post planned before I knew what March would be writing. Honest. It’s just synchronicity, innit.
I’m 42 next week. And a bell is ringing on my fragrance array, as loudly as the one saying ‘you’re in middle-age, dude’. These markers in life make me respond in what some might say are extreme ways.
A protestant work ethic minimalist at heart (if not in practice), the perfumes in my collection/hoard have long been bothering me. Not all of them, but the majority. You see, I just don’t wear them. A collection is just not necessarily a set of things you wear I guess – it’s more a personal choice of highlights from the plethora of perfumes in existence or dead, as well as a map of the perfume landcape that you’ve shaped for yourself in some way. But… I’m tired of all that land. I love how the hills and valleys and glades look, but perhaps all I need is a small plot to call my own, that suits me best. A picket fence and a neat little house. One or two hills and a shady vale. Perhaps a dark forbidding wood. But not much more. Under a hundred acres, not a continent. I can always visit that continent if I want, but I don’t have to call it mine.
I’m ruthless with clothes. There are those items I keep because I wear them and they’re vintage and wonderful. And there are those more transient garments that wear out from overwear (tautological? Me?), or are just no longer right. They go – the former to the bin or the garden store (dusters, rags, paint drip collectors); the latter to charidee. And I stop wearing some items altogether – denim jeans for example. I’d love to, but I’m farcical in young and funky, and depressed in old and fogey.
The same with perfume. I have samples for those that I need to sniff, but now, if I don’t wear em, they’re gone. Last year I reduced from 120ish to 60ish. This year, I’m going for thirty or under. So, in the Lee-is-brutal rules of perfume ownership, I’m only keeping those that I know I wear regularly, or I know I might not now, but I will again soon. What follows is my ‘you-are-so-totally-owned’ list. It’s a long way from completist and you might think ‘hey, he needs X or Y to sit alongside those’ . By all means tell me if you think the need is there, and I might respond. I’m just under 30 – I have room for one more. Maybe.
Christian Dior
Dior Homme – only 10mls left. I won’t rebuy it. I overwore it and like skinny trousers, it doesn’t really fit now.
Bois d’Argent – a forever love. If nothing else works, I can rely on a trip to the silvery woods (where money grows on trees) to make me smile.
Eau Sauvage – forever crisp white shirt suitable.
Yves Saint Laurent
M7 Fresh – another one that’s running low, and won’t be replaced. But I have affection for it, simply because it’s my man’s favourite.
Rive Gauche pour Homme – the best fougere for me. Barbershop soap and salt. I’m not sure it actually is salty, but it works that way.
Cartier
Eau de Cartier – high pitched violets and crispness. A summer essential.
Declaration – spicy translucence.
Bulgari
Bulgari pour Homme – another summer no-brainer. Nothing special, for those nothing special happening days. I’m surprised the bottle isn’t nearly empty.
Editions de Parfum
Geranium pour Monsieur – it makes me want to put creases in my shorts, tuck my shirt in neatly, and buy boat shoes. And I hate boat shoes.
Nicolai
Balle de Match
Eau d’Ete
Eau Exotique – all three are Nicolai’s cheap and cheerful summer smells, rather than the Guerlainesque richness she’s more rightly known for. You can happily never OD in spraying the final of the three, but a little of the first two goes a long way. Grapefruit richness and fresh musk can easily be overdone. But I only have 30 ml bottles of both – great for my work bag on hot days.
Hermes
Terre d’Hermes – in parfum, to replace my empty edt bottle. A necessity for me.
Ambre Narguile – when I’m in a scarfed up, brr it’s cold and I need stodge, I’ll probably go for the Nazgul before I go for cake.
Poivre Samarkande – anyone who doesn’t get this, and then get it, is crazy. Perfection in pepper.
Different Company
Sel de Vetiver – my favourite summer fragrance.
Parfumerie Generale
Coze – the best of outdoors in a bottle.
Divine
L’homme de Coeur – spring refinement.
Guerlain
Jicky – in parfum de toilette. I did have it in parfum, and will again. Of all the great classics, it’s this I’m most loyal to.
Vetiver – see Eau Sauvage.
Eau de Guerlain – for when you need the sun to shine.
L’Artisan Parfumeur
Timbuktu – my second favourite incense, plus extra oddity.
Le Labo
Poivre 23 – a phenomenal oriental.
Patchouli 24 – I guess Dr Jekyll is renting lab space in the basement of my neat little house. I’m glad of it.
Serge Lutens
Encens et Lavande – my favourite incense. My most meditative scent.
Santal de Mysore – rich sweet spicy.
Arabie – and again, but different enough to justify both. One is more main course than dessert, but they share plenty of flavours. They are winter favourites.
Muscs Koublai Khan – the only ‘real’ musk I wear.
Borneo 1834 – grey suit., white shirt, leather briefcase. Glasses. Serious face. Adds mystery to the mundane. Quixotic to the quotidian. Dash to the drear. Etc.
And there’s one more I didn’t mention. A 30ml bottle of Mitsouko parfum. It’s preformulation, oakmossy wonderfulness but I NEVER wear it. Therefore, it breaks my rules. Somehow it feels like I have to keep it. But I’d swap it in an instant for some Jicky parfum.
So, if you had to reduce your collection to just 30 (and don’t worry folks, I’m only in charge of crazy old me, and not the rest of the world…), what would definitely be in, based on MY RULES? And if you have under 30 in your collection, what would you like to add in to round up that there number?
Lemme know. I won’t be around til the end of the day due to work, but I’ll certainly be in to check up on you all before the day is out.
Thank you so much Rappleyea. I know it’s stoopid, but not knowing what was in Lee’s post was making me nuts. NUTZ.
I tried clearing, cleaning, rebooting-still nothing. On the bright side, it was a cheery treat to see a post from March on a Sunday!
Hey, thanks very much, Rappleyea! Now I’m yearning to read the comments, but this was awesome… (And did not inspire me to buy new things at all! Yay Lee!)
Okay, now do all of the comments. I keed…
Thanks so much. I was too busy trying to repost it to, uh, turn my brain on like you did. :d
Blond, pale, and light blue eyes? Red is so fantastic with coloring like that! Carolyn Bessette just rocked that look. I think she wore a Bobbi Brown called Sheer Ruby or something like that, which has since been discontinued.
and the look in Chanel…http://karlasugar.net/2010/07/chanel-fallwinter-haute-couture/
just gorgeous!
Oh yeah, for reals! To freakin’ DIE.
I’ve been giving the Dream Smooth Mousse a try, too. The lightest shade, Porcelain Ivory, suits me best. I like it, but I’m not blown away.
I’ve been wearing a navy smokey eye with a nude-pink cheek and nude-pink lip lately. What I like about a nude lip is that if it wears off, or is less than perfect, it isn’t glaringly obvious like with a deep red.
I’m also giving the Maybelline Full & Soft mascara a try-out. I think it’s doing a good job. This might be my new drugstore favorite mascara.
Ooooooooooooh! I love that idea of the navy eye and the nude-pink! I bet that’s so fresh and flattering. And I hear you on the wear-off, although sometimes I really like the stained shade my lips are when the red’s gone. But not if there’s liner around my mouth like :o)
clown deployment – <:-p
You are drunk with emoticon power and it is most unbecoming. And I want it.
I AM QUING. If you’ll recall.
< ):) >🙂 (%) seriously, yin/yang? How would anyone ever use that?
Oooh, look, emoticon fail!
Well, I guess I should revisit the MUFE foundations. I went to their shop here a few years ago and was able to get my hands on little sample pots of their lightest shades, but I have to tell you that that goopy texture is all silicones and it just freaks me out something awful. There are silicones in everything these days, but that foundation was just too much for me to deal with…it felt like nuclear pudding or something and it totally creeped me out.
Sensai makes a really nice foundation and primer for us dry skin types — beautiful finish and the light colors are not too yellow, or at least not for me, and I have a lot of pink in my skin. I haven’t been wearing it in the warm weather but now that it’s getting all autumny out there I’m probably gonna pick it up again.
The Dreeeeam Smooooth Mouse color thing is a shame, innit? I was using the Ivory Porcelain too and even though it virtually disappears into my skin, it might be too pasty. Still deciding.
My next big adventure (as you know) is to check out the MUFE pro lippies at Sephora. The idea of 50(squee!) new shades just blows my leetle mind. In fact, I believe I’ll swing by there on my way to the Hell’s Kitchen Flea, which means I’ll never actually make it to the Hell’s Kitchen Flea.
You say nuclear pudding like it’s a bad thing, pudding. That’s such a perfect description, I’m going to try to remember it. Since I put it di-rectly on my makeup sponge I tend not to notice it glopping around in the bottle like the Thing…
Really, Sensai? Hm. And the Ivory Porcelain is either a half-hair too dark or too yellow for me, I can’t decide. I want to play in those lippies!
oh, there are some pretty fall makeups! As you know, March, my new fav is the YSL duo #31-bought on that shopping junket; the gold is so softly glowy, the matte purple so rich….ooh, la, la! I also got 2 single eyeshadows-Chanel Taupe Grise and BB Black Cocoa. The latter is from the fall BB Black Velvet collection-most of which are no-shows-they literally don’t show, other than as black. But this is a lovely coppery smoke, that is great for the eye corner or contour.
I’ve only got one new dark lippie-this also from BB Velvet collection-a creamy Black Cherry. I can easily wear burgundy and other rich tones, but this one is buildable, and wears to a pretty stain.
Stay tuned for the Holiday Chanel collection-stunning coppery eye palette for those that can wear those shades, lovely lippies. BB also has a huge release for the holidays…ummm.
Hon, that pink MAC Gaga lippie was just designed for you-it’s sophisticated and fresh at the same time. I am sooo happy to have match-made that for you-and jealous that this “golden” (sallow, warm, light olive) girl can’t wear such a shade. Also thanks for getting me to try the MUFE foundation-#20 will be my next skin shade, after the weather cools enough to dispense with tinted moisturizer.
Didn’t we look at that BB Black Cocoa together? It was so gorgeous, as was that YSL duo. You are really fun to play makeup with, I had such a nice time. And thanks for the Gaga. :*
Black Cherry just sounds good.
Good info, March– thanks! I’m taking plenty o’ notes, as I too am fair-skinned and always looking for the right foundation shade, not to mention colors I can bring off without looking like I’m made up for a role in “Cabaret”. I’d be glad to have the striking contrast of dark hair as you do, but it’s chestnut hair with a slight dusting of Irish freckles. Super-dramatic makeup has always looked a bit laughable on me; I’d love to be the model on the right in that Lancome ad, but I can’t go far from the girl-next-door look. Oh, and no makeup? Caspar the ghost.
I know what you’re talking about with your coloring … less is definitely more. Don’t dismiss those freckles, which are so lovely. There’s a gal with your coloring at our Nordstrom who’s always wearing the most interesting greens, I feel like she really has sorted out what looks good on her.
Actually, the freckles are now mostly on my limbs: years of wearing foundation (not to mention SPF50-plus sunblock) have left my face clear of freckles. Too bad in a way (they were the cute, dusting-across-the-nose type), but my fair skin really needs foundation to even out its color generally. Haven’t done a lot with green eyeshadows since my teen years, but light clear lavender/purples still work well with my gray-green eyes. The biggest problem is loving startling colors in eye makeup, lipstick, and blusher (the 60’s! the 80’s!) while knowing how crap they look on a middle-aged face. You should see my “Halloween box”– that’s where I keep the real fun stuff.
Hello March, the Chanel Fall 2010 Look might be a nice choice for you. Nothing too harsh or excentric, but very fine colours nevertheless.
Love your blog!
Marianne
Chanel always has the most gorgeous colors, I’m seduced by their lippies and quads.
I used to get quite slap-happy with makeup, trying on every foundation/eyeshadow/lipstick under the sun. But this summer, I finally decided to focus on my skin and try to get it the best it has ever been. This has meant a completely pared-down makeup routine. So I’ve been rocking only two things: 1) mineral concealer for undereyes and blemishes; 2) bronzer to give me a bit of colour. So far, I’ve had fewer breakouts and generally better looking skin. And bonus: this takes me only 5mins in the morning (= more sleep). Whoo! :)
But that really focused effort probably looks great. And I do agree that playing in a bunch of different product tends to result in breakouts, at least for me. I am a huge fan of the five-minute face, which we’ve done on here before, I love reading people’s variations. I feel like with some foundation, blush and lipstick I am good to go.
I’ve been on this YFBB kick (and a limited application) for awhile now – but it’s a delicate balance – a recent photo of me revealed that I could use a tad of color (I’m that weird, baby-poop yellow/brown and brown/grey hair doesn’t help at all – I ended up looking like a big ol’ bowl of butterscotch pudding). So I’m splurging to get that dark roan color with ashy blonde highlights put into my hair again (most flattering for my skin) and going with a touch of color on my face – a deep blue eyeliner. Everything else will stay MFBB (still limited app – I’m too old for a whole lotta app)
xo >-)
Also correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems to me you ladies of color often have a whole separate issue to deal with of a pretty varied skin tone on the face? That seems to be something they’re always evening out in the makeup shows… more so even than my pinkish areas. I still think butterscotch is a great color, though. I think the haircolor sounds gorgeous.
I’m lucky in that most of my face is all one color except around the mouth (just slightly) – well, not ONE color but the striations are very subtle. Butterscotch is grand – but not ALL butterscotch, knowmean? At one point I was all one color from the tips of my hair to my neckline. Ew.
The dark blue eyeliner and the mascara/brow thing helps break it up. Color lips just look silly because of the eyeglasses and masses of really curly hair. I start veering into Bozo territory.
xo >-)
I’m still wearing my summer makeup: a bit of bronzer, gold and brown eyeshadow, eyeliner, glossy lips. I will switch to a fall routine soon, which includes 2 lovely Chanel lippies, Lune Rousse and Rivoli. They are similar but I just couldn’t resist, had to get them both. Georgeous, rich, deep colours.
Last week I bought the new Urban Decay Naked palette that so many makeup girls on Youtube are raving about. It is indeed very nice if you don’t mind shimmer. There are some beautiful matte colours too. I like to mix shimmer and matte and the palette offers a variety of looks, from super natural to dramatic. I think it will be my fall staple.
I’m kinda late when it comes to nail polish trends and have only now bought OPI’s ‘You don’t know Jacques’. Seriously amazing stuff. So that will be my fall look as well.
I’m also very disappointed about Strada being discontinued. I have a suggestion however. Stila has a contouring trio that I use for that same effect. Have a look at
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_10?url=search-alias%3Dbeauty&field-keywords=stila+contouring+trio&sprefix=stila+cont
There are videos on youtube on how to contour your face with this trio. But the way I use it is I just swirl my blush brush into all three colours and lightly dust on my cheeks. You can make it quite sheer and natural, or build it up for a more dramatic look. The colours are lovely and look good on fair skin. They also work as eyeshadow.
I hope this helps in your search for a non blushed blush.
Isn’t Jacques fabbo? I was a little late to the party myself, as it was sold out for months and I couldn’t be bothered to hunt it down. But when I wound up with some I loved it. Thanks for the Stila recommendation!
I got made over by the Bobbie Brown person in Neiman’s. This was the first time anyone ever put make up me that I did not look totally overdone. I wound up with a Natural Finish liquid make up in warm sand. I am pretty pale, but did not wear the lightest color,which makes me think I need to wear more sunscreen. I also purchased a bronzer called Antigua for use as a blush. It is a pinky shade that works well and does not look like bronzer. I dot the make up on with my fingers and work it in with a brush. It looks natural.
On the topic of makeup for light skins, you might really enjoy make up shopping in England. When I lived there, I never used the lightest available color (as often happens in the US.) The range of choices was good for those with light skin, but prices were not so good for those with limited finances and an unfavorable exchange rate.
Oh, I bet you’re right about England. And people are always recommending Asian brands, but the problem is (even though they’re much, much paler) they invariably seem warm-toned, which I am very much not. Ruddy English is more like it.
The best makeup I’ve had done has been at Bobbi.
I’ve been wearing red lipsticks all summer, so I’ve been going bare the past couple of weeks as I wait for fall to come. I want wearing burgundies and reds to feel “new” again. I haven’t visited makeup counters for a couple of months now, but I’ve been holding out for a couple of darker Coco Chanel lippies that will be great this time of year (Ballet Russes and Lune something). I also want to check out the super-dark Armani lippie that the Non-Blonde swatched a while back. And grab a bottle of Fatale Rouge nailpolish from Chanel. With that, maybe I’m done for the season. Although the new eyeliners from Mac look perfect….
Are you still speaking to me? I am sorry I didn’t get to see you! Also — what’s up with your link, Godaddy’s got it for sale… you look amazing in those reds, and that was one of the funnest days with you in NY I’ve had in the last five years, God’s truth.
I am still struggling with the darker shades of lip… the mid-dark D&G is about as much as I feel like I can do, but some of those Cocos are so pretty.
Thanks, March, for letting me know about the link! It seems the problem is the address without the “www” before it. Need to dig around in settings…. I know I fixed that before, but I’ve been fiddling where I shouldn’t have fiddled….
The time in Washington DC got filled up fast with meetings and everything else, and I was beat *before* getting there. My last night there, I put on PJs at 5pm and didn’t leave the bed! Hopefully there will be other chances, because lipstick/fragrance hunting with you (and S!!) is too much fun.
The only lipstick I tried on during that whole month of travel (17 cities in 30 days–I am so very, very happy to be home!) was that D&G Dahlia. Oh, lord, I loved it! Loved it. But my boyfriend was obsessed with the color Glam, which is dark-dark brown with blue undertones. I looked like death. He thought it was hot. Even if an item will not leave the bedroom, sometimes you’ve got to draw the line, no? But that Dahlia… oh, that’s on my list for the next time I get near a good Saks.
xo
Is that Dahlia not killing? I want to marry it.
I can’t find my darned tube! I know it’s in a handbag here somewhere. 🙁
There’s my girl! Yes to the reds…I broke out Fatale the other night when I got wasted with Francesca. Perfect for that. And the Fatale Rouge is on order from NM, backordered till Shavout…do you have yours (wait for it) IN HAND?
Oh, plus I had been waiting with bated breath for the new Chanel Soho Collection to be released in honor of the reopening of their Soho boutique for Fashion’s Night Out. Got me summa that Khaki Rose nail polish toot sweet.
Khaki Vert looks like it’ll rock, too. I had to call Florida for it!
Can’t you get it on the Chanel website? Or did you get a free ship deal?
I bought several, paid postage. Silly me, but I figured they’d make great swaps or gifts.
Oh, and Soho is due to be released at Nordstrom beginning of November-I had a SA from the Big Chanel central check on this. I don’t know on the Khaki-I suspect they wanted to create a buying frenzy, as they did for Soho-which brought down the website. Then release some of the Khakis as LEs later. But Ima pig-I just paid the postman ; ( Where’s my pig emoticon, btw???
What? Backordered? NO! Because I don’t have it in hand–I’ve been waiting to get to the big-ass Mall down the road. :(( (Wailing emoticon!)
Neiman Marcus…free shipping. But yes, backordered.
Love the Random Sunday posts even though the older I get the less makeup I wear of any kind. But what I’m finding interesting as I look at that Lancome ad is that I received the big, glossy BG catalog last week, and most of the models in it looked like they weren’t wearing any makeup at all! Is that a new trend? Am I going to be in style for the first time since 1972?!?
Oh, really? No makeup? I wish I got BG catalog …. in the department stores, the looks are pretty darn heavy. But a nude look is great any season.
Nekkid eyes. Next Big Thing. Yeah, right.
Oh, I just assume it’s the “no makeup” LOOK, not actual no makeup. 🙂
Well, it really is zero mascara, and possibly no eye makeup, period.
It does look like nekkid eyes! *Very* natural and pale. I can certainly do pale. Oh wait – I AM pale! Call BG’s – I’m sure they’d be happy to send you that puppy. They only put their most expensive stuff in it! I was admiring a dress and looked at the copy to see that it was $12,000!
I’m hugely into eyeliner this season, probably because my teenage daughters are….so what we’re all wearing is the Physician’s formula gel stuff in pots you apply w/ a brush. It’s keyed to eyecolor, so we have 3 different sets hanging around to play with…lots of fun, wears like iron, not a lot of cash if you decide you hate it. It’s sparkly, but discreetly so.
And (weirdly!) my fixit guy told me “your eyes look great with that stuff on…” Go figure.
I love those gel pots, I have several of the Bobbi Browns. Those things stay put! And it’s not as tricky a technique as the liquid eyeliners.
Fixit guy is hitting on you!
Fixit guy must be desperate…I’m about 15 years older than he is!
Older women are hawt.
I’m using the L’Oreal HIP cream eyeliners currently, and those babies will.not.come.off. I have skin like an oil slick everywhere except my cheeks, so that tenacity, especially from an eyeliner, is welcome. I’m also using the Clinique pot eyeliners (can’t remember if they’re creme or gel) and they are just as tenacious.
Yes, I’m up in the middle of the night, feeding Huey, and am glad to be able to see this post, though I still only see the heading on Lee’s post (boo!)
I like all the dark, vampy releases for fall from Armani, Lancome, Bobbi Brown etc. – they look beautiful on an arm swatch. (LURV that Armani Brown 202, looks like fox fur…) I don’t think I’ll be able to wear these lippies, however. I can wear a heavily blotted redder burgundy, but purpler, plumish tones don’t work on the lip for me: they make my skin go weirdly pale and my eyes look green, which produces an effect I call “going Hulk”. On the eyeshadow front, though, I can rock the purples, so I’m finally thinking about buying one of those hideously overpriced Dior eyeshadow quints: Mystic Mauve. (Hate the inaccurate name, though.)
I recently bought a Maybelline Dream Mousse blush, after reading many positive reviews, including one from Paula Begoun. I love cream/mousse blushes, including the hideously overpriced Dior Pro cheeks one (sensing a trend here?) and I really like the texture and price of the the Maybelline one, but it was so damn sparkly, it looked like glitter glue. Maybe the foundation would be a better choice for me, if I can find a matching shade.
My favorite new makeup product is the Korres Raspberry Liquid lipsticks. I like the Korres lipsticks and glosses (not the balms) a lot, and this has a very nice texture and a little stain, but not a very large shade range. Luckily, the Nude Beige – which, true to Korres wacky naming policy is neither nude nor beige, but a warm rosewood color – suits me. Warning to you: fairly scented, though the cool vanilla smell is not offensive to me, sort of MAC’ish.
Sorry, it’s “Misty Mauve” – gah, that’s almost worse.
She sounds like a porn star.
Well I don’t know about port (although obviously *you* do) but now I have a Misty Blue earworm so hey, thanks for that.
PorN. I know so little about it I can’t even spell it. Which might be a good reason to bone up. Damn I miss those emoticons!
I bet you know a thing or two about port. /:)
And squirrels.
Oh, bless your heart. I remember being up in the middle of the night with the twins and getting online just for some non-crying company. (we were all crying, for awhile there.)
The glitter blush — FAIL. Even NARS Orgasm is waaaay too much on me, I feel like a Vegas dancer, and not in a good way, either. And yes, eyeshadow is one of the places we fair-faced gals can rock some purple and plum!
I only do red lips. More specifically,I only do a sort of oxblood color I got from ‘The All Natural Face’ on Etsy. She used to make it in a thick matte that’s awesome–unfortunately, she dc’d it because I was apparently the only person who thought that.
Also, am I the only one who isn’t getting the ‘must have’ entry? All I’m getting is the heading and date.
Also, is any of the E.L.F stuff any good? I’m curious…:)
I had the same problem all day Friday with the Must Have post. But it appeared yesterday for me. Strange…..
I just tried reposting it, that’s so weird, I can see it fine…
RE: Lee’s invisible post — he blogs in Mac, wonder if it’s wonky? I copied it into word and re-posted it, that may help. You probably have to clear your cache or something similarly geeky.
The E.L.F. my kids ordered once and they really liked most of the products, I think especially the eye pencils, and I got a very nice stick blush. I find their polishes a little cheesy. You can probably read tons of reviews on MakeupAlley.
The ELF items that I love and repurchase are the clear brow mascara and the small domed eyeshadow brush. The brow gel is not sticky or shiny and works beautifully – I’d happily pay more than a dollar for it if I had to, and I have at least 10 of the e/s brushes for different colors.